구상(具常) 시의 전개와 문학사적 의의

Abstract

The poems of Koo Sang(具常) are philosophical rather than artistic. They describe examination of conscience and conviction of redemption in his inner self in front of God. The poet communicates metaphysical messages concerning his investigations of existence by using everyday language rather than elegant, refined words in his work. He came from north Korea over the 38th parallel after warnihg and accusing the injustice of communist power in his early poems. But during his times in south Korea, he also severly scolded moral corruption of the society. He criticised the so called poems of realism literature of his period as being overly superficial and naive. He creates the poems with optimistic perspective for the future even though they depict the miserable, desperate daily life of post Korean war. We can trace his effort for the virtue, practical morality in his poems of 1950s. “oems of scorched land” 焦土의 詩) are samples of this trend. His poems contain messages of metaphysical thought which are mainly concerned with the existence and eternity of human being in 1960s. He confesses and repents that his everyday life is so dirty and slothful, so he pursuits the extreme purification of soul in his poems. He knows that the complete freedom of human being comes from ultimate practice of moral virtue. His late poems express his religious understanding. We can find that he realizes the existence of God and has conviction of resuscitation in terms of Christian viewpoint in his works. He confesses that he willingly wants to take the sufferings and sacrifice for the people as Christ did. This pious attitude comes from the gratefulness of being created by God. Koo Sang, the profound thinker and poet created unique poems in modern Korean literature by writings of humanism in post Korean war poetry, expresses metaphysical thinking in his poems, add religious sanctity which can rarely be found in Korean poetry.